This invention relates to a connector having a guide portion for guiding connection of the connector and an object to be connected thereto.
A connector of the type having a guide portion is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications (JP-A) Nos. H07-335296 and H09-320684. In the connector, the guide portion is formed as a part integral with an insulator made of a hard material and holding a contact.
For example, a mobile telephone is provided with a connector to be used when a battery is charged. Typically, the contact used in the connector is of a butt-contact type in which the contact and a mating contact of a mating connector as an object are pressed against each other in a predetermined direction. The insulator is provided with a lock mechanism for stably holding the contact and the mating contact in a contacting state.
It is assumed as a particular case that the connector of the above-mentioned structure is connected to the mating connector and thereafter disconnected therefrom without releasing the lock mechanism. In the particular case, an excessive force may be applied in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, so that the insulator is damaged, for example, cracked. This is because the insulator is poor in flexibility.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a connector having a structure which is not subject to damage.
According to this invention, there is provided a connector having a principal surface to be faced to an object in a first direction and a guide portion protruding from the principal surface in the first direction for guiding connection of the connector and the object, wherein the guide portion has elasticity so as to be elastically bent in a second direction transverse to the first direction.